The Czech Republic will continue to coordinate the Ukraine ammunition initiative, but will not contribute any further money to the scheme, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) wrote on social media yesterday after a meeting of leaders of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ – countries committed to supporting Ukraine.
Babis said he made the decision after agreement with his government partners, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists. Babis had previously pledged to abolish the initiative.
The Czech Republic has been mediating the supply of large-calibre ammunition to Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia. The National Security Council (BRS) will discuss the future of the ammunition initiative on Wednesday.
“I have yet to attend the BRS meeting to find out more details about the ammunition initiative, but after all the meetings I have already attended, I have decided, after agreement with my coalition partners, that we will not cancel the initiative,” Babis wrote.
“The project will continue and the Czech Republic will be the coordinator. No money from Czech citizens will be invested in the munitions initiative,” he added.
After negotiations with the other leaders, Babis told Czech reporters in Paris yesterday that the ammunition initiative can continue on the condition that other countries fund it. “We have the know-how, our companies have the know-how. Of course, it must be transparent and without corruption,” he said.
The proposal to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine from non-EU countries was made by the previous Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) at an extraordinary EU summit in February 2024. The first delivery of ammunition arrived in Ukraine in the summer of 2024.
Before the October 2025 parliamentary elections, Babis strongly criticised the initiative and pledged to abolish it. At the end of last year, he said it was a good thing in principle, but the question was whether it was free from corruption.
The Czech Republic is cooperating mainly with the Netherlands and Denmark on the initiative. In 2025, Ukraine received 1.8 million rounds of ammunition. It has so far received more than 4 million rounds within the initiative.
Tomio Okamura, leader of the far-right SPD, said on Monday that the government parties would discuss the government’s position on the initiative after the National Security Council meeting. He said the government parties had agreed that the Czech Republic would not finance the initiative from its budget.
According to former Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky, other donors contributed CZK 100 billion to the ammunition initiative, with the Czech Republic contributing CZK 2-3 billion.
